Nokia’s been getting a bit of an attitude lately, especially when it comes to Samsung. Earlier this month, it invited Samsung to “take Note” of the upcoming WP8 Lumia launch, as if Samsung could learn a trick or two from Nokia’s expertise. The lighthearted trash talk continues now that Samsung beat Nokia to the punch with news of the first Windows Phone 8 handset.

Nokia’s Doug Dawson has been all over Twitter today making some gentle jabs at Samsung. First he tweeted a pic of a sign Nokia put together, welcoming Samsung “back” to Windows Phone as if it had been absent from the scene for some time now (what about the Focus 2?).

When CNET’s Maggie Reardon tweeted a comment on Samsung’s coup today, Dawson stabbed back with “every great show needs a warm-up act”. Ouch.

While we realize this is serious business, with millions of dollars in sales at stake, there’s definitely a playful overtone to Nokia’s public goading of Samsung like this. That might just be a smart move; even a perceived conflict can help attract attention to the new models from both companies, and potentially drive up sales.